Dre Towey is on a 'Sugar' high

Published 8:00 pm, Saturday, October 17, 2009

Winning a silver Parents' Choice Award for her latest album, "Sugar on Top," was the icing on the cake for Dre Towey, Rowayton mom-turned-kindie rocker.

"It's a different thing," said Towey, who lists her age as "forty-onederful." "My previous work is kind of like my first baby... now its evolving."

Towey, whose real name is Andrea Loomis Towey, and her husband are natives of New Jersey, but have made their home in Rowayton. A former elementary school teacher, Towey never thought she'd end up as a performer. Interested in art as a child, Towey strayed from her roots into sports as a teen.

"I was a jock," she said of herself. "I still am a jock."

She returned to the arts in college, and started writing children's stories. When her own children were born, those stories became more lyrical. She decided to make a go of this skill in 2001, when she penned tunes for an album by Wendy Gelsanliter, the singer-songwriter behind "Dancin' in the Kitchen."

"I started writing a long time ago for a CD that's not in my name, called 'Ants Wear Underpants,'" said Towey. "'Sugar on Top' is really my third album."

While "Ants" won a Parents' Choice Award, "Sugar" is Towey's first solo effort to be submitted for an award. Her first album, "Chester Unleashed," was released in 2006 and featured rocked-out standards like "Playmate" and "Three Little Fishies."

"Sugar on Top" rocks a lot harder. The CD design features a skull-and-bones cupcake, and the track list is loaded with familiar tunes. "Bicycle" is a re-worked version of the Queen anthem and "The Wheels on the Bus" was inspired by The Who's "Magic Bus." One (original) song is titled "Space Cowboy." And there are plenty of guitar solos to go round.

Towey said she was trying to appeal to the sensibilities of parents as well as to the children.

"I dove into my '80s roots," she said.

Towey's voice calls to mind the indie rock queens of the '80s and '90s. If Tori Amos's only concern in the world were losing a balloon, if Ani DiFranco were preoccupied with learning to count, both would sound very much like Towey.

The Rowayton mom is backed by plenty of local star power. Her band is comprised of Randall Funke and the members of Fairfield County rockers "King for a Day" which opened the Gathering of the Vibes in 2008. She also is joined by percussionist Kwambe Henry Jones of the Infinite Roots African drumming troupe.

"Sugar" is a very different experience from "Chester."

"'Chester' is my first child. There will always be a special place in my heart for Chester," said Towey.

Towey is a little bit like Hannah Montana, balancing her identity as a kindie rock star with the duties of being a mother. When she isn't on stage or in the studio, she is caring for her three children, Hannah, Emmet and Mae.

She says that the kids, aged 10, 8 and 5, are proud of their mother's rock star status.

"They love it," she said. "In their minds I am a rock star because they hear their friends talk about me."

Dre Towey will appear at Rowayton's Family Discovery Day on Saturday, Nov. 1. For more information about "Sugar on Top," visit www.sugarontopmusic.com.